Meet the Career Innovation Faculty Fellows

2026-27 Career Innovation Faculty Fellow

What message would you like to share with students about career development during their college years?

Here’s the advice I give to all my students:

You should approach your college education like you’re in art school. People don’t hire an art school grad based on their grades. They hire them based on their portfolio. Do they create great art!

You should do the same with college. When you take classes, choose classes that help you either develop skills that you can apply to projects outside of class or where you build the project directly in class.

This portfolio can be built up in lots of ways, especially at Wash U. For example, if you want to be a political journalist, write for the school paper. Take classes that are going to help you with writing and then write in and outside of class.

If you want to be a data analyst for campaigns, take classes that help you learn how to crunch numbers and then create public posts analyzing recent elections.

I’m a BIG fan of internships. Take opportunities to work in the areas you want to enter and then find a way to highlight what you’ve done.

Dr. Fleury’s Career Assignment

2026-27 Career Innovation Faculty Fellow

What message would you like to share with students about career development during their college years?

I see college as an important time for students to connect academic learning with the skills, experiences, and interests that will shape their future careers. Career development is not separate from education; it happens through coursework, projects, research, internships, teamwork, and reflection on what has been learned and accomplished.

This is especially important in statistics and data science, fields that use quantitative reasoning to solve problems arising from real-world applications. Recent advances in artificial intelligence are changing nearly every aspect of analytical work. In my view, this transformation calls for more than simply learning new tools. It requires a deeper understanding of statistical and mathematical theory, stronger technical skills, and a more synergistic way of thinking that brings together computation, domain knowledge, communication, and human judgment.

The most valuable preparation is therefore not training for one specific tool or job, but developing the ability to understand complex problems, evaluate emerging methods critically, and adapt as technologies and professional expectations continue to evolve.

2026-27 Career Innovation Faculty Fellow

What inspires you to integrate career development into your course curriculum?

There are many ways to have a meaningful career related to public health. As a professor of practice in Public Health & Society, I help students make connections professionally, academically, and personally. This starts with listening to students and learning about their values, interests, experiences, and motivations. I recognize that not all students come to WashU or to the field of public health with a clear direction, and I aim to support them as they explore and consider possibilities by providing information, guidance, encouragement, and connections.

Dr. Reis’s Career Course

I developed a new course focused on preparing students for a career in public health to help students engage in a structured process of career exploration and professional skills development. Throughout the semester students learn about and utilize the amazing career focused resources at WashU and engage with and hear from a diverse group of guest speakers who share about their public health related careers in different settings. They also work to identify their values, strengths, interests, and competencies, and use these insights to set clear professional goals and objectives.

2026-27 Career Innovation Faculty Fellow

What inspires you to integrate career development into your course curriculum?

As a faculty member in the Department of Biology, I work with many students interested in health-related careers, especially medicine. My involvement as a pilot faculty member for the Arts & Sciences’ Literacies for Life and Career initiative helped me appreciate the university’s commitment to preparing students for their futures. This experience emphasized the importance of connecting classroom learning with the skills students will need after graduation. While many students come in with a clear idea of becoming doctors, I also strive to expand their awareness of the various careers available in public health, healthcare, and the life sciences in general. As a Career Innovations Faculty Fellow, I hope to practice integrating career development into my courses to help students build valuable skills while also allowing them to explore paths they might not have considered before.

Dr. Schlarman’s Career Assignment

I will focus on my upper-level Parasitology course, which mainly includes juniors and seniors interested in public health and health professions. In this course, students will work in teams to address a simulated parasite outbreak scenario. Each student will take on a professional role, such as epidemiologist, infectious disease physician, health educator, or public health communicator, based on a survey designed to place them in a role they may not have thought about before. During the project, teams will investigate the outbreak, create response strategies, and think about how professionals from different fields help manage public health crises. I also hope to arrange for students to connect with professionals in their assigned roles to gain firsthand insight into those careers and their duties. At the end of the semester, teams will present their findings and proposed response plans to the class. Lastly, students will reflect on how these experiences relate to their career growth and practice communicating the skills they developed in ways that will help them in future interviews, applications, and career exploration. This assignment aims to improve key career skills, including teamwork, critical thinking, problem-solving, data interpretation, and science communication. Just as importantly, it encourages students to consider a wider range of career options while applying course concepts in a realistic and engaging fashion.

2026-27 Career Innovation Faculty Fellow

What inspires you to integrate career development into your course curriculum?

I’m integrating career development into our introductory engineering class to help students understand the many paths that their degree can lead to, and to give some tools to start navigating those paths. I’d like students to understand that they don’t need to have their entire career path figured out from the beginning. Career planning is a lot like engineering itself, where we try things out, learn new skills, get feedback, make adjustments, and practice communicating with others about the work we are doing.

2025-26 Career Innovation Faculty Fellow

What inspires you to integrate career development into your course curriculum?

As a professor, I am the alternative career – 6 of 7 life science PhDs are not faculty at R1 universities but much of current graduate student training does not reflect this reality. PhD programs need to better educate and prepare students for diverse career paths.

Research is the core of graduate training but having students investigate career options earlier in their training gives them time to prepare for what comes after the thesis defense (or postdoc). My background and career include time in the biotech industry.

Having seen first-hand how different career skills and mindsets are needed, my goal is to share those experiences. Partnering with the CCE and helping students see their options offers a way to broaden their understanding of what comes after graduate school.

2025-26 Career Innovation Faculty Fellow

Ragini’s Assignment:

Students in Ragini’s Public Health Seminar II course are simultaneously navigating the interview process in preparation for practicum in the upcoming summer semester. The career assignment she developed gives students the opportunity to investigate various potential career pathways in both non-profit and for-profit sectors and to construct a tailored cover letter draft articulating their leadership philosophy and approach to public health challenges, which they can use as a template going forward as they actively apply.

2025-26 Career Innovation Faculty Fellow

Heather’s Assignment

In her Literary Journalism course, she teaches her students to develop strong research skills, including preparing for and conducting interviews. Her career assignment asks students to leverage these skills to conduct an interview with someone of professional interest, producing a profile piece while simultaneously learning about a career path of interest and building a new professional relationship.

2025-26 Career Innovation Faculty Fellow

What inspires you to integrate career development into your course curriculum?

Art History doesn’t immediately come to mind as a practical, career-focused major. Many employers are seeking the skills in qualitative analysis, written and oral communication, and visual literacy that we build organically in our field. Art is intimately connected to political movements and reflects our deepest societal values.

My goal is to show students how Art History provides valuable skills for a variety of future careers. My “New Media” class emphasizes written and oral communication and teamwork, and builds familiarity with technologies for online engagement. This course gives students the chance to curate for themselves and explore how visual material translates social issues.

As a Senior Lecturer in Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, I have dedicated my career to developing successful young engineers. I am a Professional Engineer (Environmental, TN) and always encourage students to pursue professional licensure which is critical to success in certain engineering fields.

When students take classes with me, I frequently hear about their career searches. While students view college as a pathway to robust careers, many struggle knowing how and where to search for opportunities, how to engage with employers, and how to accept or negotiate offers. The wide variety of student interest and experience within an engineering field means we see students looking for internships, research opportunities, graduate schools, and full-time careers.

My goal is to work in partnership with the CCE to bring career development experience to engineering students directly within their courses. Students with early exposure to career development, internships, and research experience typically have a better chance of securing full-time positions by graduation. I want to see all of my students leaving WashU with careers, confidence, and skills they can be proud of.

Kristen’s Assignment

Students in Kristen’s Environmental Engineering Capstone course have historically participated in an environmental design contest where they interact with judges from sponsoring firms. Her assignment asks students to prepare for the event with structured peer resume reviews, research on company sponsors, and a plan for proactive engagement with other students and professionals at the event.